The influence of Christianity on literature has been great throughout history, as has been the influence of the great Christian Augustine. Augustine and Literature explores Augustine's influence on literature from the Middle Ages to the present day and discusses the implications of expressing Augustine's religious themes both in literature and in more directly theological works.

This book examines the nature of Augustinian time as the unfathomable yet permanent focus of the present. What are the implications for Augustine’s confessional discourse? How to reconcile the brevity of time’s focus with eternity’s longueur and the rhetoric of digression?

The essays here show the interface and relevance of psychology to theology (and vice versa), and they do so in a way that will be useful to upper-level undergraduate or graduate-level courses in religious studies. The collection is also useful for presenting classic essays as well as new essays appearing here for the first time.

At the heart of the current surge of interest in religion among contemporary Continental philosophers stands Augustine's Confessions. With Derrida's Circumfession constantly in the background, this volume takes up the provocative readings of Augustine by Heidegger, Lyotard, Arendt, and Ricoeur. Derrida himself presides over and comments on essays by major Continental philosophers and internationally recognized Augustine scholars. While studies on and about Augustine as a philosopher abound, none approach his work from such a uniquely postmodern point of view, showing both the continuing relevance of Augustine and the religious resonances within postmodernism. Posed at the intersection of philosophy, theology, and religious studies, this book will be of interest to scholars and students of Augustine as well as those interested in the invigorating discussion between philosophy, religion, and postmodernism. Contributors include Geoffrey Bennington, Philippe Capelle, John D. Caputo, Elizabeth A. Clark, Hent de Vries, Jacques Derrida, Jean Bethke Elshtain, Richard Kearney, Catherine Malabou, James O'Donnell, Michael J. Scanlon, and Mark Vessey. Indiana Series in the Philosophy of Religion -- Merold Westphal, general editor

This volume brings together the selected papers of the Fribourg-Utrecht symposium "Augustine and Manichaeism in the Latin West," organized on behalf of the "International Association of Manichaean Studies." It contains a considerable number of contributions by leading authorities on the subject, focussing on both the diffusion of Mani s religion in the Latin West and its substantial impact upon St. Augustine.

Designed for students of all ages, this resource guide provides an engaging and succinct introduction to twelve recognized masterpieces of Catholic literature, from Augustine's 4th century conversion narrative to the recent poetry of Denise Levertov.

A Companion to Augustine presents a fresh collection ofscholarship by leading academics with a new approach tocontextualizing Augustine and his works within themulti-disciplinary field of Late Antiquity, showing Augustine asboth a product of the cultural forces of his times and a culturalforce in his own right. Discusses the life and works of Augustine within their fullhistorical context, rather than privileging the theologicalcontext Presents Augustine’s life, works and leading ideas in thecultural context of the late Roman world, providing a vibrant andengaging sense of Augustine in action in his own time andplace Opens up a new phase of study on Augustine, sensitive to themany and varied perspectives of scholarship on late Romanculture State-of-the-art essays by leading academics in this field

This volume deploys theology in a reconstructive approach to contemporary literary criticism, to validate and exemplify theological readings of literary texts as a creative exercise. It engages in a dialogue with interdisciplinary approaches to literature in which theology is alert and responsive to the challenges following postmodernism and postmodern literary criticism. It demonstrates the scope and explanatory power of theological readings across various texts and literary genres. Theology and Literature after Postmodernity explores a reconstructive approach to reading and literary study in the university setting, with contributions from interdisciplinary scholars worldwide.

This book is, along with Outward Signs (OUP 2008), a sequel to Phillip Cary's Augustine and the Invention of the Inner Self (OUP 2000). In this work, Cary traces the development of Augustine's epochal doctrine of grace, arguing that it does not represent a rejection of Platonism in favor of a more purely Christian point of view a turning from Plato to Paul, as it is often portrayed. Instead, Augustine reads Paul and other Biblical texts in light of his Christian Platonist inwardness, producing a new concept of grace as an essentially inward gift. For Augustine, grace is needed first of all to heal the mind so it may see God, but then also to help the will turn away from lower goods to love God as its eternal Good. Eventually, over the course of Augustine's career, the scope of the soul's need for grace expands outward to include not only the inner vision of the intellect and the power of love but even the initial gift of faith. At every stage, Augustine insists that divine grace does not compromise or coerce the human will but frees, heals, and helps it, precisely because grace is not an external force but an inner gift of delight leading to true happiness. As his polemic against the Pelagians develops, however, he does attribute more to grace and less to the power of free will. In the end, it is God's choice which makes the ultimate difference between the saved and the damned, and we cannot know why he chooses to save one person and not another. From this Augustinian doctrine of divine choice or election stem the characteristic pastoral problems of predestination, especially in Protestantism. A more external, indeed Jewish, doctrine of election would be more Biblical, Cary suggests, and would result in a less anxious experience of grace. Along with its companion work, Outward Signs, this careful and insightful book breaks new ground in the study of Augustine's theology of grace and sacraments.

These essays—which consider a wide variety of cultures from ancient Egypt to contemporary Japan— describe the conditions under which cultures that do not dominate each other may yet achieve a limited translatability of cultures.

Rereading the Renaissance - a study of Petrarch's uses of Augustine - uses methods drawn from history and literary criticism to establish a framework for exploring Petrarch's humanism. Carol Everhart Quillen argues that the essential role of Augustine's words and authority in the expression of Petrarch's humanism is best grasped through a study of the complex textual practices exemplified in the writings of both men. She also maintains that Petrarch's appropriation of Augustine's words is only intelligible in light of his struggle to legitimate his cultural ideals in the face of compelling opposition. Finally, Quillen shows how Petrarch's uses of Augustine can simultaneously uphold his humanist ideals and challenge the legitimacy of the assumptions on which those ideals were founded.

This one-volume reference work provides the first encyclopedic treatment of the life, thought, and influence of Augustine of Hippo (A.D. 354-430), one of the greatest figures in the history of the Christian church. The product of more than 140 leading scholars throughout the world, this comprehensive encyclopedia contains over 400 articles that cover every aspect of Augustines life and writings and trace his profound influence on the church and the development of Western thought through the past two millennia. Major articles examine in detail all of Augustines nearly 120 extant writings, from his brief tractates to his prodigious theological works. For many readers, this volume is the only source for commentary on the numerous works by Augustine not available in English. Other articles discuss: Augustines influence on other theologians, from contemporaries like Jerome and Ambrose to prominent figures throughout church history, such as Gregory the Great, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, and Harnack; Augustines life, the chaotic political events of his world, and the churchs struggles with such heresies as Arianism, Donatism, Manicheism, and Pelagianism; Augustines thoughts about philosophical problems (time, the ascent of the soul, the nature of truth), theological questions (guilt, original sin, free will, the Trinity), and cultural issues (church-state relations, Roman society).

Examines the arguments of present-day critics of Augustine, and argues in favour of some of the much-neglected historical, philosophical and theological perspectives which lie behind Augustine's most unpopular convictions.

A detailed commentary on the Confessions of Augustine in three volumes. A revised Latin text of the Confessions appears in Volume I and forms the basis for a detailed line-by-line commentary (Volumes II-III) designed to elucidate the many layers of meaning in the work.